Montréal, August 6, 2024 – Caeli McKay had high hopes for her first individual Olympic final on Tuesday, and she did not fail to impress on the Paris Aquatic Centre’s 10-metre tower. Her superb performance earned her 364.50 points, her best cumulative score of the competition, and fourth place once again.
The athlete from Calgary remained calm and consistent throughout the hard-fought final, which saw China’s Hongchan Quan (425.60) and Yuxi Chen (420.70) capture gold and silver, respectively, ahead of North Korea’s Kim Mi Rae (372.10).
“Finishing fourth when you performed really well is not a bad thing at all. Finishing fourth when you gave your all, without holding back, without any major errors . . . I did everything I could today [Tuesday],” said McKay proudly, shortly after the competition.
Provisionally fourth after three rounds, McKay stepped up the pressure on Kim Mi Rae by landing her two most difficult dives of the session, earning scores of 75.90 and 76.80.
“After my last dive, I knew it was really tight,” said McKay, who then headed to the provisional podium to watch the final competitors who were still in contention for a medal.
Her apprehension peaked as Kim Mi Rae, the only opponent who could knock her out of third place, took to the platform. Faced with the pressure, the North Korean athlete proved unflappable, and her score of 75.20 was enough to allow her to cruise to bronze.
“Her dive was excellent, and I had no control over that,” analyzed McKay, following the final. “You always hope you’ll do better than the other divers, but I stayed focused on my own performance, without checking the standings.”
The 25-year-old diver thus finished at the foot of the podium for the third time in as many Olympic competitions, after placing fourth with Meaghan Benfeito in the synchronized event in Tokyo, as well as with Kate Miller last week in Paris.
“Finishing fourth once again is definitely not easy to take, but I have no regrets. Knowing that I gave it my all makes it easier to accept, and I wouldn’t change anything about today,” said McKay, whose family was in the City of Light to cheer her on at her second Olympic Games.
“Mentally, the Olympics are difficult. You feel isolated, there are a lot of emotional ups and downs, and you’re often told to dive for yourself. But I wanted to dive for my family. I’ve been in Montréal for eight years now, and this is the first time everybody came to the Olympics. It feels very special, and I’m so glad to have been able to experience it with them,” concluded McKay, before going off to meet the many fans gathered around the pool.
The action will resume on Wednesday at the Paris Aquatic Centre, where Alberta’s Margo Erlam will make her Olympic debut in the 3-metre preliminaries. She will attempt to qualify as one of the top 18 divers who will advance to Thursday’s semi-finals.
More information:
Alexandra Piché
Manager, Communications
Diving Canada
C: 514 625-5513
alexandra@diving.ca